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00:00In the early 2010s, Sarma Magalas had it all.
00:16She was beautiful, talented, successful.
00:19The owner of one of the hottest restaurants in New York City.
00:22Then everything turned upside down.
00:25When she met a man online named Anthony Strangis.
00:28Listen up, you old s**t.
00:31Together, they built her investors out of hundreds of thousands of dollars.
00:35They were caught.
00:37But there's a lot more to their story.
00:41And one of them seems to be at it again.
00:44Dearest Anthony, you stole from my family.
00:47Allegedly, Anthony is leaving a string of victims in his wake.
00:50And he's doing it in the sickest way possible.
00:52My brother ruined a lot of people's lives.
00:54I think he's probably got his metaphorical claws into somebody.
01:01In this special two-part episode of Toxic, we go in search of notorious con man Anthony Strangis.
01:07It could be him.
01:08That definitely could be him.
01:10Will we find him?
01:11Or will he slip through the cracks and disappear?
01:14Anthony.
01:14When it comes to love, betrayal is the death of a thousand dreams.
01:22Anthony, let's do this.
01:23We're right here.
01:25And the unraveling of countless lies.
01:28You can spend years picking up the pieces, examining them, rearranging them.
01:36Digging through the past to make sense of it all.
01:39Navigating through my personal heartbreak took me back to my roots as an investigative journalist.
01:44Hi, I'm Elizabeth Chambers.
01:45Elizabeth Chambers.
01:46Elizabeth Chambers, outside the Los Angeles Police Department.
01:49It ignited a curiosity inside of me about love that fractured.
01:53Oh my God.
01:55Inflicts lasting trauma.
01:56Hi, I wanted to see if they could ask you some questions.
01:58Absolutely not.
02:00And can lead to tragedy.
02:01And that's when my world ended.
02:03I feel that it's part of my calling to meet with the victims, the survivors, to listen to their stories,
02:10show how it can happen to anyone, and expose the truth.
02:14I'm Elizabeth Chambers, and this is Toxic.
02:28In 2016, a real-life Bonnie and Clyde story broke nationwide.
02:33Detectives say Sarma Melengalas was wanted in New York.
02:37She was the owner of a popular vegan restaurant in Manhattan before disappearing last year without paying her staff.
02:43She's facing several lawsuits from them and many felony charges.
02:47Detectives tracked her and another wanted man down after they ordered a pizza for Mr. Mirville Domino's.
02:52Police confirmed the two were staying at a nearby hotel and arrested them Tuesday afternoon.
02:58House Sarma went from plant food queen to vegan Bernie Madoff.
03:02In 2016, this was the story.
03:05And then, in the spring of 2022, we got what we thought was the full story.
03:11When the documentary series Bad Vegan was released, and Sarma revealed to the world that Anthony was a con man who carefully manipulated her into believing and doing truly outlandish things,
03:24Sarma claimed that through gaslighting techniques, Strangis had her believing that if she endured a series of humiliating tests, including sending him money,
03:31she would pass into a new reality, where she and her beloved pit bull Leon would be immortal.
03:37The docuseries focused heavily on the fantastical elements of the story, rather than dissecting how Anthony Strangis was able to manipulate Sarma into marrying him,
03:47making what was hers now also his, convincing Sarma to drain her bank account for him, and then defrauding her investors to cover those debts,
03:55ultimately bankrupting her restaurant.
03:59Bad Vegan left the viewer questioning Sarma's true intent and involvement in the fraud,
04:04instead of showcasing her as a victim of Anthony's manipulation and coercion.
04:11Sarma was charged as a co-conspirator and pled guilty to three felonies.
04:15While Sarma has very publicly returned to New York to pay restitution to their victims, Anthony seems to have disappeared.
04:33As someone who defends victims of love cons, I can read between the lines here.
04:39I am sure people think she's responsible, but that's what's so insidious about being manipulated by a loved one.
04:46I so badly wanted to speak with Sarma about her experience with Anthony, so I reached out to Sarma, and she agreed to speak with me.
04:55So I flew to New York to meet with her.
04:57Sarma was understandably cautious because she felt misrepresented in Bad Vegan.
05:01It's very understandable that she doesn't trust anyone, right?
05:05Her words have been twisted, so she's not open to doing a sit-down interview.
05:09She's not open to doing anything formal.
05:12In terms of just connecting with her, we'll take whatever we can get.
05:16She asked that we not record the conversation for fear that her story would again be manipulated, which I fully respected.
05:23How are you?
05:26We discussed facts of the case, her experience with Anthony,
05:29and how he was able to take millions from her and her business.
05:35Ultimately, I don't think that the documentary did Sarma any favors.
05:38It almost sensationalized everything, and I personally believe that it re-victimized her, in a way.
05:46After I left New York, Sarma and I stayed in touch.
05:48I didn't expect we'd ever speak in an official on-camera capacity, but to my surprise...
05:53Sarma did agree to let me record a conversation we had on a video call.
06:05Talk to me about what is the actuality of your story, and how was it misrepresented in that docuseries?
06:15They perverted my story.
06:17You know, they made this series.
06:19They titled it Bad Vegan, implying I'm the bad one.
06:22The stories are like, oh, they ran off together.
06:25Well, no, we didn't run off together.
06:27That series didn't explain how this happened.
06:31Sometimes, if all they do is show the sort of fantastical, crazy elements of it, that person and people like him,
06:39they're just going to keep doing what they do and hurting more people.
06:43How do you think you got to that place?
06:46You know, he sort of got to me at a time where I was heartbroken and incredibly overwhelmed in my business.
06:54I was just sort of very ripe for him to be able to come in and target me.
06:59How long were you guys together before he asked you for money?
07:02It was at least four or five months.
07:05And, you know, when he asked me for it, it was in this way as if it was like this huge emergency.
07:11And, you know, again, I'm like a pretty trusting, nice person.
07:14It's like if you think somebody's having like this emergency and it's this temporary thing, you're going to want to help.
07:20Well, now he owes me money and I want it, so I'm going to keep that door open.
07:24And that's how they get in and ultimately stay in is that door being open.
07:30What kind of abuse did you endure in the hands of Anthony?
07:34Overall, it was, you know, psychological and financial.
07:39Later on, grotesquely, it was sexual.
07:42You know, I was asked about the sexual abuse part of it in my interview for Batnegan.
07:47And it was really hard to talk about because that was that much sooner from when it happened.
07:54And I was shocked when they cut that out of the series.
07:57You know, as much as it was embarrassing and hard, it's like they just invalidated it by completely leaving it out as if it never happened.
08:06I can't imagine how frustrating that must have been.
08:08You feel you're more of a victim of his crimes.
08:10And people don't understand when you plead guilty to something, that doesn't mean that you actually are guilty.
08:16It just means that that was like the only option you had at that time.
08:20And on top of all the financial debt, I also carry the shame that comes along with that.
08:25Because even if I know it wasn't my fault in my heart, I feel responsible.
08:30And shame just comes along with that.
08:33And he doesn't feel shame.
08:34So he gets to go off clean slate.
08:37I feel very, very strongly about the fact that so often perpetrators are not held accountable.
08:43He got out with really, for all intents and purposes, very little repercussions in comparison to what you're facing.
08:52I've lost my whole business, lost everything I cared about, and then also have my reputation destroyed.
08:57You would think that there would have been an effort to charge him, not just for the damage that had been caused, but specifically for what he did to me psychologically.
09:08And because I still have that fear.
09:10And sometimes I'll see somebody from really far away that has the same build, you know?
09:15And I'll get this jolt of kind of fear that like, you know, what if he appeared on the street or something like that?
09:24Do you think he's on to other victims?
09:28Yeah, I'm sure.
09:29I'm sure he's on to other victims.
09:31And I think he's probably, sadly, got his metaphorical claws into somebody.
09:39You know, if there's something I could do to help, I would.
09:41That's kind of why I'm doing this.
09:44If Anthony was capable of what Starmer was alleging then, then he still could be capable of them now.
09:52I know that a tiger doesn't change their stripes.
09:55I want to know what Anthony's up to.
09:57Where is he?
09:58What is he doing?
09:59Who is he doing it to?
10:00I can't find an email address for him.
10:03I can't find a phone number.
10:04With Anthony all but non-existent, I decided to reach out to the author of the original Bad Vegan article, Alan Salkin, who's been covering the story for nearly a decade and still regularly communicates with Sarmer.
10:17Hi.
10:18Oh, how are you?
10:19I'm Elizabeth.
10:20I'm glad you're here.
10:21Come on in.
10:21Have a seat.
10:22Thank you so much.
10:23So, the story that hasn't really been told is after Anthony went to jail, after conning people out of millions of dollars, and allegedly sexually assaulting Sarmer, where did he go and what did he do?
10:36Well, first, when he got out of Rikers, basically he went to live in his mom's house up in Massachusetts.
10:45He was just sort of trolling around on Twitter for hours and hours and changing his Twitter handles all the time, but it was the same account, and he was probably searching for his next mark.
10:58You know, this is all the research I did, and I got all these tweets, and then I also got some of the text messages that were going back and forth between Anthony and Sarmer.
11:07They're still in touch.
11:08They have been in touch on and off since Anthony has gotten out of jail.
11:13I start to see him mention things about politics.
11:19You know, Anthony says, saw your tweets.
11:21Katie Hill had to be removed.
11:24Katie Hill was a Democratic U.S. representative who won a very close election in a typically conservative district.
11:32Her downfall came when a reporter named Jennifer Van Laar published photos of her, basically naked, having a threesome, on this thing called Red State, this right-wing publication.
11:48Her seat will prove to be important down the line.
11:51Powerful people decide things like that.
11:53She was a corrupt mess, as are most politicians, but she has a seat that was important to someone for something.
11:59As if he knows.
12:00Right.
12:00I remember when the story broke.
12:04It was a huge story.
12:05Every single major news organization was covering it.
12:08The fall from grace for a California congresswoman once seen as a rising star in the Democratic Party.
12:13Congresswoman Katie Hill is stepping down.
12:15A conservative blog posted an explicit photo of her.
12:19All these years later, it's wild to hear these texts from Anthony DeSarma implying that he had intel or insider knowledge about this huge scandal.
12:29It does make you wonder, was he involved in that?
12:35Somebody gave me a tip.
12:37He had his probation transferred to California, and then he had gotten married.
12:44And I found that he had gotten married in Nevada, in Las Vegas.
12:49And I see that the bride is, you know, Jennifer Louise.
12:54And I'm like, okay.
12:56I look it up in a database, and I see, you know, AKA Jennifer Van Laar.
13:02And I'm like, who the hell is Jennifer?
13:03That's a familiar name.
13:04She's the journalist who published the Katie Hill photos.
13:10Once I knew that he had married Jennifer Van Laar, then everything else starts to click into place.
13:16That he had been texting with Sarma about politics.
13:21And then it's easy for me to go back on Twitter and search, like, what interactions was he having with her?
13:27Yep, turns out, connected with her the same way he's connected with Sarma.
13:31Like, oh my God, here we go again.
13:34I am now armed with all this.
13:36And I keep calling Jennifer Van Laar, looking for comment about, you know, Anthony Strangis.
13:41Do you know him?
13:43What?
13:43No.
13:44I have no idea who that is.
13:46I don't know what you're talking about.
13:48Then she gives me this statement.
13:50So she says, I met Anthony Strangis in 2019, and since 2020, he has performed bodyguard services for me.
13:57As an investigative journalist, I sometimes receive death threats or other threats to mine or my family's safety.
14:05In August 2021, when we were both in Las Vegas with friends, on a lark, we decided to get married.
14:11We talked for a few weeks about whether it could actually work, but eventually decided that we worked best as just friends.
14:17He has never asked me or my friends for money.
14:19I have filed for divorce, but we remain on good terms.
14:27However, I realize when I look at the marriage record that he goes into that marriage, Anthony Strangis.
14:39But when he comes out, Anthony Knight.
14:47Anthony Patrick Strangis, he wishes to use the name Anthony Patrick Knight after marriage.
14:53He took a real estate.
14:54Why would he do that?
14:56You know, he's infamous now.
14:57And so now he's got a new name that is of extreme use to somebody like him.
15:03And so now you go back to the statement Jennifer Van Laar gave me, which you can tell is very carefully crafted.
15:10And then you think, is what she's covering up this?
15:15That he was involved somehow in that.
15:18Because we don't know how Jennifer Van Laar got those naked, drug-using photos of Katie Hill.
15:26All it takes is people talking on Reddit or talking on Twitter.
15:29He had been flirting with Jennifer Van Laar.
15:31He knew, oh, she's a journalist.
15:33And so he put two and two together and said, oh, I can connect these two.
15:37And then maybe he says to her, hey, I want one thing from you.
15:42Let's go to Vegas.
15:43I need your last name.
15:45And do you think that was a pivotal moment in Jennifer's career when she released the photos?
15:48It made it.
15:49I kind of put her on the map.
15:49It made Jennifer Van Laar.
15:51She would definitely feel beholden to somebody who would help her that way.
15:55Learning this information about Jennifer Van Laar made Sharma's words echo in my head.
16:00It's part of Anthony's MO to find women with ambition and resources that he can use for his own personal gain.
16:05People like Anthony Strangers, they find people who are a good target.
16:10They find people who are in public about their goals and ambitions.
16:13So he didn't even have to take the time that they usually have to take to study somebody and learn all their insecurities and what their goals are.
16:21That stuff was all out there for him to know and read about.
16:25And then they weaponize it.
16:26Unfortunately, I made a very good target.
16:28This is not him starting his life over and finding his happily ever after.
16:32Is it a working theory?
16:34Is there anything for sure to knock it down?
16:36No.
16:37Is there anyone else whose story hasn't been told or anyone you think we should focus on?
16:41Her.
16:42Michaela Coulter.
16:43Anthony's half-sister.
16:45She's never given an interview.
16:48I wanted to know how Anthony became this way.
16:51What drives him to do these things?
16:54His own sister, Michaela, agreed to fill me in.
16:58Growing up, I would say I looked up to Anthony.
17:02Me and Anthony, we have a 13-year age difference.
17:05We do have two separate fathers, which I think that context is important.
17:09My dad was not around.
17:11So growing up, Anthony was one of my main caregivers, along with my mom.
17:14So he was the one putting me to bed.
17:17He was the one taking care of me.
17:18He was, like, normal and caring.
17:21And he wouldn't hurt a fly.
17:24Tell me about Anthony's dad.
17:26What was he like?
17:27His dad was always very nice to me.
17:30But I know he's done a lot of terrible things.
17:33He was a cop.
17:34His dad was not nice.
17:35His dad was not a good person.
17:37He's a compulsive liar and gambler.
17:39He taught Anthony how to lie.
17:41He taught Anthony how to gamble.
17:42Lavish trips and cruises.
17:44Disney World.
17:46His father created a world that Anthony wanted to live in.
17:51That wasn't realistic.
17:52I was seven or eight.
17:55I was still pretty young when he moved out.
17:57He was, like, 18, 19.
18:00He moved to Florida with his father.
18:02I sat on the road crying and, like, watched him drive away because I was so upset.
18:06Like, I did not want him to go.
18:07And that was, to me, like, the last time I ever, like, had my brother.
18:12Like, that was him.
18:14And then that's kind of where it all started to change.
18:17Anthony spent the next few years in Florida getting in some trouble with the law and was charged with impersonating a police officer and grand larceny.
18:25He eventually made his way up to New York, where he spent the year scamming Sarma and her employees, going on the run, and eventually getting caught.
18:36People don't understand how bad gambling addictions are.
18:43It should be spoken about more his gambling problem because I think that's the root of it.
18:51His addiction is what feeds all of it.
18:55I will say when he got arrested, me and my mother were relieved.
19:00We were happy, which sounds terrible, but we wanted him to get help for so long.
19:05So when he was in jail, I didn't talk to him at all.
19:07And then when he got out is when he came to live with us because he really didn't have anywhere else to go.
19:13Anthony lived at my mom's house for a couple years.
19:16He was there until he got almost off probation.
19:19He got permission from his parole officer and everything to move to California.
19:23And he told us he got a job working for the Republican Party.
19:28Did he specify to you what kind of job he was taking for the Republican Party?
19:32No.
19:33We were like 50-50.
19:35Could be a lie, could be fake.
19:37He had paperwork to give to the judge and the parole officer to prove what he was going to go do.
19:43So we had to believe it.
19:45We had a real person saying he was going to go and work for the Republican Party.
19:48So Anthony went from being in a relationship with Sarma, a liberal vegan, to allegedly working for the GOP.
19:55How do you think that happened?
19:56So Anthony's relationship with politics, my personal opinion, is all about the game.
20:06And I think he sees an opportunity to take advantage and manipulate.
20:12And I think that's where his political belief is, the power.
20:17It's just where can he get more power at that point?
20:19For him, it's not just money.
20:22It's like, it's power.
20:23The whole thing is a game to him.
20:25So it's not just, it's not just money.
20:27Because once he got all the money he could from me, he would have like left and got on a plane to Mexico.
20:32And he wouldn't have just sort of spent it.
20:34It's like, he doesn't really care about it.
20:36It's the whole weird power trip.
20:38But I think it's, it's dangerous to underestimate these people because they are very, very, very smart.
20:44As I'm starting to understand Anthony more, what makes him tick and how he pulls off these cons,
20:51it's eerie how those who know him best have encounters that mirror each other.
20:56It seems his gambling addiction drives his compulsion to steal money from people.
21:00But it's the notoriety, the illusion of importance that Anthony is really chasing.
21:06And what's bigger than embedding yourself in American politics?
21:14Some of this is just really weird, right?
21:19We're all in this together.
21:21There was a video that somebody sent me from this new Twitter handle.
21:27The videos were made early in the COVID pandemic.
21:32They are these dark, weird, black and white, like, rants.
21:37So I went to Stop and Shop.
21:39I asked the manager, where's all the toilet paper and the paper towels?
21:42Why don't you get that in?
21:43Oh, we've been getting it in, he says.
21:46Usually sells out between 6 and 7.30 in the morning, the senior hours.
21:50So listen up, you old ****, who apparently we're shutting everything down for.
21:55Stop buying all the **** toilet paper and the **** paper towels.
21:59Anthony has clearly figured out that now he's in this sort of conservative or right-wing world.
22:08And this is the world that he's going to now operate in.
22:11And you're probably buying it for your ****, ****, 40-something-year-old, **** kids.
22:17Stop being a greedy **** prick.
22:19You're supposed to know better.
22:20You're older.
22:21It's almost to me like he's testing out a new persona.
22:24We're all in this together.
22:25Drink this Kool-Aid.
22:27Here.
22:28Don't you want this Kool-Aid?
22:29What am I going to catch with this voice?
22:34And I think what he caught was Jennifer Van Laar and all these other people in Southern California.
22:40When I spoke to Alan, he suggested that I reach out to Eddie McClintock, an actor in Los Angeles who met Anthony on, you guessed it.
22:50Well, he slid in my DMs on Twitter.
22:53Eddie was part of this group of conservative guys online that consisted of former and current active military members, as well as some Secret Service agents.
23:04Eddie describes Anthony as funny and irreverent.
23:07He really won a lot of these guys over by sharing videos during the pandemic about his disdain for the shutdowns.
23:13You know what's really creepy?
23:14Is everybody saying, we're all in this together.
23:17It was politically tinged.
23:19He says he's a conservative.
23:21What?
23:22I just want some **** paper towels.
23:24I don't want to join a cult.
23:26One day, Anthony invited Eddie and the group to Las Vegas for a hot ticket event.
23:31A Conor McGregor and Dustin Poirier fight.
23:35Anthony told them he'd handle everything from the hotel suite to the tickets to their food and all their drinks.
23:40I flew into Vegas and I was at the hotel and he was like, I'm in the Rolex shop.
23:46Come to the Rolex shop.
23:48I'm looking down the hall and I can see into the Rolex shop and there's one other person.
23:53And that person was not in good shape.
24:00Immediately, I thought, I've been catfished.
24:03Because on Twitter, he kind of came off as being in, like, really good shape, saying perhaps he worked for, like, Blackwater.
24:11You're getting some steps in if you work for Blackwater.
24:14Yeah.
24:15But Eddie's friends had been with Anthony for a day at this point.
24:18And they vouched for him for being legit.
24:20When we get back to L.A., that's when Anthony and I really became closer, you know, because my dad was dying.
24:30Anthony and I would talk pretty much every night on the phone.
24:33He asked about my dad.
24:34And my dad, you know, my dad passed in March of 2022.
24:45And it was the hardest day of my life, you know?
24:50And when I got home after my dad died and Anthony called me, he was showing up for me as a friend.
25:01And then at one point, we started talking about Rolex watches.
25:07Eddie had been eyeing a rare Rolex, a James Cameron deep-sea dweller.
25:12I told Anthony, I'd really like to get that watch.
25:16And he was like, bro, bro, I can get you that watch.
25:20No problem.
25:21Because it'll take a couple of months.
25:22Because there's a waiting list for, like, a year and a half.
25:25And Anthony was like, yeah, I'll get you this watch.
25:27So I gave him $13,000 in cash.
25:32And I started getting excuses.
25:35And then one day, my buddy sent me this trailer for Netflix on my phone.
25:40He was like, watch this right now.
25:42And then it was him.
25:44After Matt Began came out, we called him and said, what's going on with this?
25:55And Anthony said that his wife used the liberal media to, you know, make him out to look like a bad guy.
26:05Months and months passed, and Anthony is giving Eddie excuse after excuse as to why he can't get him the watch or return his money.
26:13The last correspondence that I had from him, he said, you know, hey, man, I'm not ghosting you.
26:19The watch is fine.
26:20I just was like, Anthony, come on.
26:23What watch?
26:24And ultimately, you never saw the watches.
26:26You never saw the money.
26:28No.
26:28And it was really the ultimate form of betrayal by somebody you considered a really good friend.
26:35Yeah.
26:36And now that, you know, Anthony's gone and my dad's gone and he should have to, you know, pay for it like everybody else does.
26:44Eddie's story shares so many similarities with Sarma's as Anthony's first publicly known victim and probably the person he spent the most time conning.
26:55Every conversation I had with Sarma gave incredible insight into how Anthony operates, and it seems as though his tactics have remained the same.
27:04Anthony Stranges was incredibly intuitive about people's behavior and feelings and how to weaponize that.
27:13And it's so slow that by the time you even realize that, like, something's wrong and off, it's like it's too late.
27:19They've already got you.
27:20They know what they're doing.
27:22They anticipate what's coming.
27:23And so they know how to, you know, find the out because it's like part of a plan all along.
27:28And again, that's why it's so important, I think, to get to know people and meet them in person versus, you know, getting to know somebody online.
27:36Eddie never pressed charges, knowing that it would be costly and an uphill battle,
27:40especially considering that Anthony technically never stole money from him.
27:44He just convinced Eddie to give it to him.
27:47It seems like he found a loophole to get what he wanted.
27:50Some more money to fund his gambling habit.
27:56Where do you think he went after he left Orange County?
28:00I just know he's in Texas somewhere, and I would assume he's probably with another girl and doing some other scheme.
28:12At this point, based on my conversations, it seems like Anthony conned his way through California.
28:18He's got a new identity.
28:21He's built this year-long friendship with Eddie, only to steal from him and disappear.
28:28All of this after he allegedly coerced Sarma and left her in New York to pay back all of his victims.
28:36So I decided that Anthony doesn't get to hide anymore.
28:39Because right now, he could have a new, unsuspecting victim in his grasp.
28:46If there's a way to prevent it, I will not sit here and let one more person fall victim to Anthony.
28:55Michaela suspects that Anthony is in Texas, although he was very careful not to tell her which city.
29:01She has no recent photos of him, but their last correspondence included photos of some dogs.
29:05Unfortunately, he turned off the metadata.
29:08So again, no real way to figure out exactly where he is.
29:13So I brought on a private investigator in Texas, Catherine Meyer.
29:18Catherine immediately found an address in Austin that matched Anthony Knight, his new identity.
29:24There's 65 pages here.
29:27And she also found his name registered to an Audi SUV.
29:31We have another name linked to the one we believe he's driving now.
29:35So I sent a crew to Texas to go stake out the apartment with Catherine.
29:40Can you hear us?
29:41Hello, hello.
29:42We're on our way to location number one right now.
29:47You guys know what you're looking for?
29:48A mountain of a man.
29:50This is a location confirmation.
29:52We do not want to approach him.
29:53We do not want to give him any indication that he is being watched.
29:57I have done some OSINT, open source intelligence searches, and haven't found much more than the articles that have already been written on him.
30:07So that obviously tells me that he is trying to keep a low profile.
30:12So that's all I really have to go on right now.
30:16I'm hoping that we have a lot more by the end of the day.
30:19I just cannot stress enough how high the stakes are because if he even senses anything, he's gone.
30:25And I don't want him to run before I get an opportunity to speak with him and find out if he has a new victim in his grasp.
30:30You got it. We're doing everything we can.
30:33We'll keep you posted.
30:38In my interview with Alan, he mentioned a tip he got about the fact that Anthony had somehow wormed his way into this family called the Johnsons in Southern California.
30:47I want to talk to them.
30:49I want to see what he did to them and also if they have any idea about his whereabouts now.
30:55I've tried writing.
30:56I've tried calling.
30:57I've received no response.
30:58So now I'm going to go knock on their door.
31:03Anthony, to no surprise, picked this very small, insular and affluent coastal town in Orange County.
31:12So here is the Johnsons' house and it definitely looks like someone is home.
31:28Hi, Mrs. Johnson.
31:33Hi, Mrs. Johnson.
31:34My name is Elizabeth Chambers.
31:57We were doing a documentary on Anthony Strangis and I wanted to see if they could possibly have a few minutes of your time to ask you some questions.
32:04No, I'm not interested in talking about this.
32:06Just, it would just take a couple minutes.
32:08Absolutely not, no.
32:09Do you know him?
32:10Do you know Anthony?
32:11No, sorry, sorry.
32:14Mrs. Johnson was home and answered the door, but her reaction when I asked her about Anthony was very unusual.
32:26That was weird.
32:27She turned completely white, so freaked out.
32:29Yeah.
32:29Um, like I'm shaking.
32:32There's just so much history there, you can tell.
32:34She completely froze.
32:36She knew exactly who he was.
32:37Her face completely fell.
32:39She turned white.
32:40Do you think they're just embarrassed?
32:42I think that for people in general, when people are conned, there's always an element of shame.
32:48If it were me, I'd say, what do you know about him?
32:51There's clearly a lot more to this story.
32:54A lot.
32:55According to Alan, they had a neighbor named Glenn, who saw Anthony coming and going, and rightfully so, thought that was very, very strange.
33:06So, I think we got to try him, and maybe he'll be more open to talking.
33:17As I was on the trail in Southern California, Catherine and my team were looking deeper into this vehicle that was registered to Anthony.
33:23And they found another person attached to it as well.
33:26A woman.
33:28She's listed as the co-owner of this car this year.
33:32Owners, Anthony Nyan.
33:41And the same woman was also listed on the address in Austin.
33:49Perfect.
33:50Yep, that's her.
33:51So, not only had we potentially located Anthony, but as Kayla suspected, he may be living there with a new girlfriend, who could potentially be his next victim.
34:00Hello.
34:12Hello.
34:13Hey, so we actually got in touch with Glenn.
34:15Amazing.
34:16Amazing news.
34:17Is he still in this town?
34:19He is.
34:20So, he's got an office.
34:21We found the office, and we called him there, and he said he could come talk to him.
34:26Today?
34:26Right now?
34:27Yeah.
34:29Let's go.
34:29After seeing Mrs. Johnson's reaction, it seemed emotional, very, very emotional for her.
34:36So, I'm really looking forward to seeing and hearing what Glenn noticed, what he witnessed.
34:41Hey, dude.
34:57You see this guy?
34:59Which guy?
35:00This guy just pulled up in a Hyundai.
35:04Dog in the car.
35:08That could be him.
35:10That definitely could be him.
35:12I am now as well.
35:13He's right on the other side of that track.
35:15No, yeah, we see him.
35:16Oh, it's a little corgi.
35:17Okay.
35:18Okay.
35:18Is it the guy?
35:19Okay.
35:23Let's just see where he's going.
35:24Okay.
35:24My team in Texas spotted someone who perfectly matched the physical description I had for Anthony Strangis.
35:36Nope.
35:39But he went into the wrong apartment.
35:41Damn it.
35:42With no sign of Anthony, the team decided to get a closer look.
35:47Just a little ribbon cam.
35:49Wired with a button cam, Catherine, posing as a leasing agent, went to knock on the door.
35:54All right.
35:56Wish me luck.
36:08Thank you so much for taking this time.
36:11We have a lot of questions about Anthony and the Johnson family.
36:14Tell me a little bit about your first impression.
36:17He was introduced to us through Lindsay.
36:22Hi, Mrs. Johnson.
36:24She brought him over for a game of cards.
36:28Anthony was very bright, very articulate.
36:32I would say he's a very commanding sort of person.
36:36But he was kind of elusive in, so what do you do, Anthony?
36:39And, well, you know, work for the government, kind of in special operations and black ops.
36:46Immediately, my wife thought, hmm, I don't know about this guy.
36:50But she never sort of gave him the benefit of the doubt.
36:54But I did.
36:57So I'll give an example.
37:00He knew I was very interested in politics at the time.
37:03It was the 2020 election.
37:06I was actually very interested in running for some sort of seat.
37:08And then all of a sudden, he was an expert in super PACs.
37:12A super PAC is a political action committee.
37:16Essentially, it's a recognized group used to raise funds for campaigns or political figures.
37:21There's no limit to the funds raised, and they've gotten the reputation for being fertile ground for scams.
37:27We actually got to the point where we started a super PAC.
37:31His motivation was, if you raise money as a super PAC, you're entitled to take 20% of the money you raise for expenses and overhead.
37:40And so he could see a super PAC providing him cash.
37:45Anthony is a compulsive gambler.
37:48And I think all his motivation for money and everything else is to feed that habit.
37:54He asked myself and Lindsay combined, I'd give him $150,000.
38:00And my wife said, are you nuts?
38:02So I just did as I was told and told him to get lost.
38:06Honestly, based on how he's treated people in the past, I think you would have never seen that money again.
38:10We know his patterns. We know what he does.
38:12He steals from people, and nobody ever, ever, ever sees that money.
38:18But I think Lindsay might have given him the money.
38:22Now, Mr. Johnson had a medical condition.
38:25He is 80.
38:28Mrs. Johnson is quite significantly younger.
38:31About 20 years younger, yeah.
38:32I mean, what do you think Mrs. Johnson's relationship with Anthony was?
38:37How would you describe it?
38:39They obviously were very close.
38:40He was very embedded into the family life.
38:43I surmised there was a relationship going on there.
38:47And I know Mr. Johnson's oldest son, Mark, was concerned about what was going on here.
38:53Mark decided it was time to end it and force the issue.
38:58Especially after Bad Vegan came out.
39:02We saw the show, and we were just gobsmacked.
39:07I mean, we just couldn't believe it.
39:08Everyone was numb, really, because he'd been into our lives.
39:13He was part of the culture of our friendship, right?
39:17Did you and your wife reach out to Lindsay after Bad Vegan came out?
39:20I know my wife reached out to her and said, listen, stuff happens in life.
39:26You know, we've always been friends.
39:28Can we sit down and talk about it?
39:29And Lindsay never responded, never has.
39:33Maybe she feels like she loves him, and, you know, he's convinced her that it's just a story.
39:40It's all a pack of lies.
39:42I believe he'd have that ability over her.
39:45I mean, but that is a testament to how manipulative and controlling he is.
39:49Exactly.
39:54If you could say one thing to Anthony, what would that be?
39:58Why?
39:58I understand you've got a gambling habit, but why would you just rip people off?
40:07And he's just a bad guy, and that's really what it comes down to.
40:12Allegedly, Anthony is leaving a string of victims in his wake, and he's doing it in the sickest
40:17way possible.
40:18By leveraging people's love and trust in him as family and friends and otherwise, and he
40:25needs to be exposed.
40:26Next time on Toxic.
40:40He has obviously eluded us, and I want to know how he did it.
40:45This is interesting.
40:47Just phone numbers that come back to defense contractors.
40:51This is major.
40:53Holy f***.
40:54This is like the girl that we believe Anthony's with.
40:57Everything matches.
40:58Everything lines up.
40:59She's an outspoken Republican.
41:01This is on her social media.
41:03She may have no idea who she's dealing with.
41:06His current alias, Anthony Knight, was listed in a directory.
41:12That's huge.
41:13That's huge.
41:14Everyone in Anthony's life is a potential victim.
41:17I knew I had to act fast.
41:23Anthony.
41:24We gotta go.
41:25We gotta go.
41:26We gotta go.
41:26We gotta go.
41:26We gotta go.
41:31We gotta go.
41:35We gotta go.
41:37We gotta go.
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